The present invention relates generally to the field of racks for computing devices, and more particularly to a rack-mounted service elements.
A computing rack is a frame or enclosure for mounting multiple equipment modules. Formal standards define a variety of sizes of racks. For example, the International Electrotechnical Commission (“IEC”) promulgates standard IEC 60297, which specifies dimensions of mechanical structures for what are commonly referred to as 19-inch racks. Each module for a 19-inch rack has dimensions that conform to the standard, such as a front panel that is 19 inches wide, including edges or ears that protrude on each side which allow the module to be fastened to the rack frame. The height of a module can be referred to in rack units, denoted by the unit “U” (or, alternatively, “RU”). For 19-inch racks, 1 U equals 1.752 inches. An industry standard rack cabinet is 42 U tall. Rack-mounted computing systems include mainframes and other computing systems or devices that are enclosed within or mounted to a rack.
A service element (an “SE”) is part of the hardware control system for a mainframe. Some mainframes use laptop computers as SEs. The SE of a mainframe is used primarily by a user, such as a customer engineer (a “CE”), to install, start, or service the mainframe.